Why I love Jesus...

I love Jesus, because even though I am unlovable he still loves me. I find that amazing. How can someone love something that is unlovable. 

This is something that I don't think I will ever fully understand. I don't think God actually intended us to fully understand this concept of  he amazing love.  I know that he loves me and  he will never leave me even the darkest of times. In the times that I forget he is even around. Or in the times when I use him for my own selfish needs. He never once says, " I don't love you anymore". Never once has uttered those words. 

His love is amazing so great and so deep for use that died for us. He died for people that treat him like crap; worse than crap actually. 

Yet he still loves us.

Why?

We are children made in his image. 

This is a poem a friend gave to me awhile back and it has stuck with me for a long, long time and I just want to share it with you. I feel that it explains why God love is so deep for us. 

Before the beginning of time, I knew you. I knew what color your eyes would be, and I could hear the sound of your laughter. Like a proud father who carries a picture of his daughter I carried the image of you in my eyes, for you were created in my image. 

Before the beginning of time, I chose you. I spoke your name into the heavens, and smiled as its melody resounded off the walls of my heart.

You are mine, my love for you extends farther than the stars in the sky and deeper than any ocean, you are my pearl of a great price, the one for whom I gave everything, I cradle you in the palm of my hand. I love you even in the face of your failure. Nothing you say or do can cause me to stop loving you. I am relentless in my pursuit of you. Run from me I will love you- spurn me- I will love you, Reject yourself- I will love you. You see, My love for you as slain before the foundations of the world, and I have never REGRETTED the sacrifice

I made for you at Calvary.

When i see every part of who you are , I marvel at the work of my hands, for I whispered words of longing and desire and you came into existence. You are beautiful, and I take pleasure in you- heart, mind and body. You are my desire, when you turn your head in shame and despise what I have made, STILL I reach for you with my gentle passion. You are my Beloved, and I am Yours. 

-God

1 John 3:1
See what kind love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God....

Sin is a fatal disease and only Jesus can solve it.

Like my post says Sin is a fatal disease and nothing I can do or anyone for that matter can solve it. Only Jesus. However, I keep forgetting that, and I keep trying to fix my sin myself. I know in the back of  my mind that I can't do it alone that I will only fail like I have the last million times, but I just keep trying to make myself whole without the help of anyone. Jesus has given me all that I need all that I will ever need and I still continue to say that I don't need him and I act as if I will never need him. My soul desires HIM, my flesh craves sin. I listen to my flesh and I give into its desires and I am right back were I started. 



Only Jesus can make me whole again.

"Come all, come to me"

Well at lot has been going on since I have last updated my blog. So now I will give you a quick run down of what is going on.

• I was in a car wreck and my car was totaled :( however, I was unharmed so everything is okay :).
• I am still trying to find a job at the moment. I do have some leads and we will see how everything goes :)
• I am also still looking for a car. If you have any suggestions on what I should get I am all ears.

So that is quick run down on what has been going on, now for the fun stuff.

 So since my last "real" blog post I have been going back and forth with some things that I have been struggling with for sometime now. I have let those things define who I am and as a result I kept going back to them and again and again. However, in this constant battle between my flesh and the spirit God has constantly been reminding me of his truths that He died for my sins so that I don't have to struggle with them any longer. But me being the extra stubborn person that I am I wanted to handle this myself and the more I tried to fix it the worse it got.

 I kept forgetting that I need God in every aspect of my life, big or small and that without Him nothing in this world is possible. Then today at church it hit me like a ton of bricks while we were singing this song:

"Weary burdened wanderer, there is rest for thee 
at the feet of Jesus, in His love so free.

Listen to His message, words of life, forever bless.
Oh, thou heavy laden: “Come to Me, come and rest.

There is freedom, taste and see! Hear the call: “Come to Me.”
Run into His arms of grace, Your burden carried, He will take.
Bring Him all thy burdens, all thy guilt and sin!
Mercy’s door is open, rise up and enter in.

Jesus there is waiting, patiently for thee.
Hear Him gently calling: “Come all, come to me.”"

I need Christ I cannot overcome anything or do anything without Him and he wants to take my burdens and my sins and carry them for me and give me rest.  He died so that I may live.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest Matthew 11:28

1 Corinthians 13

The Way of Love

 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned,^[a] but have not love, I gain nothing.

 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant⁵ or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.  For we know in part and we prophesy in part,  but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.  When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.  For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

---->This is the way that we need to love one another.

But we always seem to want to be right and demand that things be done a certain way instead of truly loving one another. 

50 Million miles away

This is something that I really didn't want to write.

However, the Lord with his awesome ways has been pricking me at my heart to the point that it has become extremely heavy on my mind and on my heart and the only way to stop the heaviness is to let it go.

I have been extremely struggling in my walk with the Lord.... There I said it!!

I don't know why that was so hard for me to admit. I mean I am a Christian and as a Christian I don't struggle with anything at all... or that's what I thought.

I know we as Christians refuse to admit when we struggle with anything, its like once we admit that we have a problem with something we have lost this amazing grace that the Lord has given us.

I am ashamed to admit that I believed that for so long.
 Also we as Christian when we do admit that we have problems with things its along the lines of, (I haven't read my bible in a week or I haven't been praying enough), now I am not saying that those are not real struggles that people do go through. I am just saying that  we do not dig deep enough to figure out what causes these problems.

Now back to my main point, I am struggling so much with my walk with the Lord. I haven't read my bible in about a month in half, I couldn't tell you the last time I prayed. Yes I go to church but I don't get much out of it.

I found though in this struggle that it didn't just happen. I didn't just wake up one morning and decide that I don't want to pray or read my bible and get nothing out of church.

I started to attribute God's blessings as something that I have been doing and slowly but surely I just started to believe that I don't really need God in my day to day activities so surely but slowly I started to cut him out of my life.

As of right now I am 50 million miles away from God and I am having a hard time finding my way back.

The Reading Group Blog: The Most Important Lesson I Could Teach

The Reading Group Blog: The Most Important Lesson I Could Teach: The Most Important Lesson I Could Teach ~Independently Dependent~ Now i know that i told yall i was going to write about the 3...

Transitioning

So it has been a month since I have graduate from college.
I am still looking for the perfect starter job that all hip and cool recent college kids want.
I have applied to about 50 jobs so far and have only heard back from one.

But as I wait through this time, the Lord has taught me a lot. That waiting on Him is the best way to handle any situation. Might sound strange to some but it's the truth. The God of the universe has a plan made out just for you. He doesn't want us running around trying to figure life out when he already has it all figured out for you. I find great comfort in that. That before I was even born my life was planned down to the "T".
Yes, there will be days that are going to be harder than others and there are going to be days were you just want to through in the towel, but always keep in mind that everything is working together they way God planned it.

So as I sit here and look at my extremely messy desk. It kind of reminds me of me :). Extremely messy, full of stuff but everything has a place that was pre-planned for it when it was made and eventually with a little effort it will follow the path that it was made for it.

Morning devo

I am the firm foundation on which you can dance and sing and celebrate My Presence. This is My high and holy calling for you; receive it as a precious gift. Glorifying and enjoying Me is a higher priority than maintaining a tidy, structured life. Give up your striving to keep everything under control-- an impossible task and waste of precious energy. 
My guidance for each of My children is unique. That's why listening to Me is so vital for your well-being. Let me prepare you for the day that awaits you and point you in the right direction. I am with you continually, so don't be intimidated by fear. Though it stalks you, it cannot harm you, as long as you cling to My hand. Keep your eyes on Me, enjoying Peace in My Presence . 
Psalms 5:11
Ephesians 3:20-21
Jude 24-25
Joshua 1:5

AWESOMENESS

So today has been a days of AMAZINGNESS!!! 

I had a really amazing conference call with my job and it really encouraged me to keep going even though I really felt like giving up. 

I had a apt today with some potential donors and I was super nervous. However the Lord and his AWESOMENESS provided for me in ways that I didn't think were even possible. 

It greatly amazes me that people are willing to put there full faith in me that I can fulfill the calling that God has put on my life. I mean I mess up everyday and yet God continues to trust me with this. 

If I were God(which I am not) I would have given up on me A LONG TIME AGO. 

The more I go through raising support the more I learn about God and his love for me. 

I just wanted to share that with y'all. :) 

Home

So I have been living at home for a few weeks now and I feel like I have to re-learn my own hometown. 

There are all these hip cool places to go to in downtown and I have never heard of any of them AT ALL!!! 

I feel like these places didn’t exist when I was in High School and magically came about when I wen to college..

Is this just me lol 

Mission Chicks: Support a young missionary!

Mission Chicks: Support a young missionary!: When I entered Tarleton State University four years ago my dream was to pursue something in the marketing field. However, something happ...

Love

God is so GOOD
I know that is kinda something that all Christians say but its REALLY true!!

I have been so stressed lately trying to figure out how I am going to pay bills that I have with no job and no prospects in sight.

Then today in the mail I received a check from some friends and it was just enough to pay the bills I had.

Its amazing how God works and how he keeps his promises.

I just wanted to share that with yall to show you how the Lord is moving and working in my life.

A weekday pick me up

So as I raise support, I have realized that I have become more and more stressed out!

I wanted to call it quits a time or two, but the more that I prayed about quitting the more the Lord gave me reason to continue on.

Today was one of those days that I wanted to quit but the Lord told me otherwise. I got a call from an old friend and she prayed with me and gave me the encouragement that I so needed to keep going. 

A call from my boss also gave me the needed push that I needed to keep going by giving me more people to talk to!

Then just a few minutes ago another friend that I haven't talked to in a very long time gave me more encouragement to keep me going.

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly and how mightly the creator of the universe works!!
Thank you GOD!!!

....And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age Matthew 28:20 

Jesus calling!

If what you are being called to makes you uncomfortable that's probably Jesus is calling you...

If what you are being called to, inconveniences you that is probably Jesus calling you...

If what you are being called to seems impossible and you have to pray about, it's probably Jesus calling you...

If what you being called to gets in the way of YOUR plans, then that is probably Jesus calling you...

On the flip side...

If what you are being called to is comfortable and convenient than that is probably NOT Jesus calling you...

If what you are being called to seems really easy and you are not pushed to your knees and you don't have to pray about it then, Jesus is probably NOT calling you to that...

Trust

Trusting in God has been extremely difficult this past few weeks since graduation.

I had a set plan after graduation. Find a job. Get a car.

Simple just two things.... Well the Lord had different plans because I have neither at the moment.

Instead of just admitting to God that I was a tad bit frustrated. I just acted as if it didn't bother me.

After talking to my Coach she should me that it is OKAY to be frustrated with him. HE wants us to be honest with him ALWAYS!!!

Last Week

SOO HOMIES.....
         Today marks the last week that I will officially be a full blown college student! This is extremely exciting and also really  sad... :(. For the past four years I have done pretty much the same exact thing class, homework (kinda), work, College Life, and Church.

Now, that I am graduating I really don't know what I will be doing with my time until I start my internship on August 1st!
What I am going to miss doing the most!!
1)I am going to miss hanging out with all my friends all day and avoiding doing my homework at all cost. 
2) Making late night trips to Peacocks and eating way more than I should
3) Making random stops at friends houses uninvited
4) Neighbor dinners!!!!( Im going to miss this on the most!)
5) Being able to talk to my Xbox!!

 

Even though I'm graduating I know that its a new beginning and I am excited to see what happens!! 

Prayer

This will be a short blog but one that had me tearing up on my walk to work today.

I donate to mission organization called Gospel for Asia which is an amazing organization that goes and preaches the gospel in the slums of India!! About 7 or 8 months ago I donated some money that helped buy mosquito nets  for house and beds. I donated the money and didn't think twice about it! Then today in the mail I get this hand written card!

It  says:
 Chelcie, Thank you so much for your prayer and support for the work of the 7 Gospel for Asia ( nets) 
I had the privileged to pray for you today.
                                                                                       -Joy


It made me tear up that the nets that I had donate had done some good and that one of the girls or someone over there had bothered to write to me and thank me and PRAY for me!

......The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. James 5:16 

Over-joyed!!

So today has been a day of me being totally and completely worn out. From about 8am until right now I have been trying to figure out how I will be able to raise the funds that I will need in order to go and do what the Lord has called me to do. 

Also today has been a day of confirmation that this is in fact what the Lord wants me to do and I am truly excited to know that I am in the Lords will doing exactly what he wants me to do. 

I know that I am truly blessed, though every thing seems to be stacked up against me I know that the the Lord is 100% in control of everything. I know that I have amazing friends that I love and car for dearly and are always there for me when I need them.

I know that through this ministry the Lord will bring new friends into my life that will be there to help build me up in the way that I should go and that through my life will be a living testimony to his awesome and AMAZING grace!!!  That he would use me!!! Some one that HATED his guts 4 years ago, and he changed my heart and my life and it has  truly never been the same since that moment. He called me his child to go out and tell of the great news of his kingdom and I am beyond honored and humbled to fulfill his calling!!! 

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.... Matthew 28:19 

This is just something that I thought was super sweet!!! Aubree is a girl that is on the mission field doing the exact same thing that I will be doing next year. She wrote this card to help encourage me!! What makes it even better is I have only meet her once and for a brief time! God is so amazing!!! 

Matthew 14:1-21

So today while waiting for my college bible study to start I was reading through my bible plan for the day. The first section that I needed to read was Matthew 14:1-21. I have Matthew dozens of times before and I truly didn't expect to get much out of this time. However, when I began to read I started to realize something, something that I had never seen before. Let me give you a break down of the text before I tell you what hit me. In this text Herod was in charge and he had heard of Jesus and he knew that Jesus's friend John the baptist was in prison. He himself had sent John the Baptist to prison for the sake of of Herodias his brother Phillip's wife. All this is because John had been telling him that you can not have another mans wife. On his birthyday Herodias daughter danced for Heord and her dance was so, let's just appealing to Herod that he promised her everything and anything that she wanted. She wanted john's head on a platters and she wanted to brought to her. He didn't want to do but since he made the promise he kept it and killed him. This news got back to Jesus and he removed himself from the group to pray however, crowds followed him as he fed them and healed thief sickness .

The thing that I wanted to show y'all is that even though Jesus's best friend had been killed for nothing. He still put himself last and put the needs of many before himself, and the question I have for you even if things are going tough times do you still put yourself first or do you put others first

Depending on you

So today I received an e-mail from Campus Crusade for Christ saying that Friday April 20th I will officially have to start raising support for my internship with Campus Crusade for Christ. I have to raise a certain amount of money before August 1st so that I can keep my internship.

My heart sank. Then my mind started racing as to how am I going to raise that much money so quickly.

Than  I realized one thing. I am deathly afraid of trusting God . I have always had a back up plan just in case God didn't follow through with MY plans.when MY plan doesn't work I just run to him like he is some type of Holy ATM. Instead going (more like running) to HIM and asking HIM to help me do it and TRUSTING that he will do it. I know that he hasn't brought me this fair in life just to leave me where I am.

I know these next few months will be both trying and the most joyful in my whole life.

Fulling depending on God and knowing that HE can AND WILL get me through this.

Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God.   Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, butour sufficiency is from God,  who has made us sufficient to be ministers ofa new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, butthe Spirit gives life. 2 Corinthians 3:4-6 (ESV)

Joy

So yesterday afternoon at 2:55pm I was informed by Campus Crusade For Christ that I had gotten the full-time internship. 

I was beyond ecstatic I blasted my happy song which is Walking on Sunshine (in case you were wondering) and I danced around the living room for the duration of the song. After Completing that and realizing how out of shape I was, I thanked God and then I immediately asked for forgiveness for doubting him in the first place. I was scared that he had taken so far in my journey that he was just going to drop me off and leave me. Which I know it says in his word that he... will never leave us or forsake us Hebrews 13:5

I know that is seems like such a small thing but doubting God is sin. I know that with me being a missionary full time I need to have full depends and trust in God in what he can do and not put him in box like I so used to doing.

God can do anything, if he wanted to have the world spin on its side in the opposite direction he could do with a snap of a finger. He can part seas, he heals the blind and he can walk on the water. So I should never doubt my God and what he can do. I know that his promises are true and if I trust in him everything will go according to his plan.

But seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness  and all these things will be added to you. Matthew 6:33. I find my JOY and COMFORT in him and when I rest in him I know that I am on the right path.

Now for a funny picture that has nothing to do with my blog:

 This ladies and Gentlemen is our Easter 2012 Family photo!! I just really wanted to show y'all this

Therefore do not worry

 As some of you may know I am applying for an internship with Campus Crusade for Christ and the waiting is killing me. As each week goes by I become more and more impatient on what the Lord has for my life. Does he want me there or does he want me here. The more I keep asking myself this the more as I realize that I am trying to play God and that I am kicking him to the curb when I need him the most.

The more options that come my way the less that I depend on God and what he wants me to do with my life after I graduate.

I have noticed this over the past 4yrs that I have been a Christian that when I have various options in my path the first person I turn to for answers is ME not HIM. Now I am not saying that I don't pray about my life after I graduate but its more of a reflex than me actively seeking out what the Lord wants me to do. I find that the  more I pray out of habit rather than praying because I want to hear his voice and his direction. I don't grow any I stay in the same place and no fruit comes from this.

I find that when I make myself God I worry way to much. I am constantly second guessing myself and back tracking to make sure that everything follows up with my will and that it all looks good to ME, instead of trusting in him and making sure that MY life matches up with HIS will for my life.

My life should look more and more like his everyday instead of looking more and more like what I want.

In this time of waiting and searching for answers I need to humble myself and and realize that 1) I am not GOD 2) All Power and Glory belong to him and 3) His WILL is perfect for my life.

Now that these things are starting to sink in life gets a little easier and when I cast my burdens upon the Lord and know that he is God almighty and that he will make straight my path, I see that there is no need to really worry about anything. He is there with me and with you guiding our paths and making them straight as long as we lean on him for understanding.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
    and do not lean on your own understanding.
⁶ In all your ways acknowledge him,
    and he will make straight your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6


Cast your burden on the Lord,
    and he will sustain you;
he will never permit
    the righteous to be moved. Pslam 55:22


 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:34 


Be blessed,
Crivers

No more stress

These last few weeks have been full of stress. With multiple assignments due and none really getting done. For example here is a pic of my to- do list, notice that nothing is checked off. One of the major reason is because I lack motivation to want to get it done. Two I want to graduate already. Three I no longer care about school!!!! However after last night and spending 4 hours in a study rooms, I walk out the library to hear a group of kids singing songs and while I listened I realized that they were singing praise songs and I walked over and sat down and just listened. In that moment the stress that I had floated away.

Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.
Psalms 55:22

Holding onto you.

 Since I have just started this blog most of you know nothing about me...lol. So I just want to tell you all a little something something about myself. I am 22 and I will soon graduate from college. YAY!!!!!!!! I'M FREE!!!!

 Now graduating from college is both incredibly exciting and also extremely terrifying. For the past  17 years of my school life  I have had everything planned out for me. I knew that I would have classes at a certain time and that as long as I showed up I would pass and be pushed along to the next grade. Now that I am at the end and there are no other grades left for me to move onto, I am in state of  "what's next?"

 A state of what do I do with my life. Do I move back home with my mom? :(  Do I move to some random state like Idaho and become a farmer?( hopefully not... but who knows... lol) With so many " What ifs" or " Do I's." There is one thing that I hold fast to  and the is JESUS. I find great comfort in knowing that even though I have no idea what is next in my life Jesus does. That as long as I strive to keep myself in his will and follow his teachings they best way possible I know that he will guide my paths and make them straight.

 I have learned that stressing about stuff and trying to plan out what next, pushes God out of the picture and I put myself in his place.

 I hope this encourages someone be blessed!!

In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
Proverbs 3:6

Phil wickham's I will wait for you there...

I have had this song on constant replay over the past few weeks. To be honest, for the longest time I really had no idea why this song kept replaying in my brain. Then I sat and just listened to the lyrics and truly got a deeper meaning of them. Let me break it down for you…

The song opens up like this:

I will wait for You there
Down on my knees where I met You
Give You all of my cares
Find a grace to hold onto now
I’m calling for You

When we come to the Lord we come broken and in bad need of repair. The Lord states in Matthew 11:28-30 ”  Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” When we cast our burdens or “cares” on to the Lord he takes them and makes them his own with no regard for himself. He wants to help us he wants to be there for use all we have to do is let him be there for us. His grace is more than enough for us to cover all the things that have held us back and kept us from fully serving God all we have to do is except it. 

The second verse of the song starts like this : 

I will wait for You there
far from the world and it’s violence
It left broken and bare

Like most people in today’s busy overbearing world we lean on the world and the things of this world for our comfort, to find our rest and our hope. However, since we are so caught up in the world and it illusions of these things  of it we don’t realize until the very end  of our lives that it has left us “broken and bare” . In James 4:14 it says“For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” In the small amount of time that we do have in this world that pretty much chews us up and spits us out sometimes we need to wait for him in our quiet place on our hands and knees. 

Now jumping into the second part of that 2nd verse:

I need to hear You in the silence now

I’m calling for You 

This part really stuck out to me and made me take a step back. When I am all focused on the things  in the world and the people around me I seldom listen for the Lord or call out to him. However, when I remove myself from the distractions of the things in this crazy life of mine I hear him loud and clear. I find myself calling out to him wanting to feel him near me holding me in his arms. Now I am not saying that when there are tons of distractions around I don’t call out for the Lord or hear him. I hear him even when I have a million things going on around me, but I find it hard to focus on him and his will and his teachings for me. 1 Kings 19 really hits the nail on the head about what I am talking about. 

Now on to my favorite part of the song the chorus:

And with outstretched arms 
I will sing out melodies
And my beating heart 
Will pour out a symphony
Hallelujah’s in the morning 
Hallelujah’s in the night
I will wait for you as long as I have life

When we raise our hands unto the Lord we are singing sweet melodies to him our prayers are like sweet smelling perfume to him. With the heart that he gave us, we can us that pour our symphonies to him by using our bodies to share the good news of Jesus. To make our body a living sacrifice to him. When we fully surrender to him we will sing praises to him in the morning and all through the night. We will wait for the Lord to teach us more about him and more about ourselves as long as we have life left in us. 

Then the last part of the song:

I will wait for You there
Down On my knees where I met you
Cause life is a war fought with tears
But You are the strength I hold onto now
I’m calling for you

When we wait for the Lord in humble place with no exceptions on what he will do, just searching and praying that his will be done we will be done he truly amazes us. Our life in the world is fought with tears. Tears of joy or tears of sadness, BUT our strength is found in that of Christ and we can rest in that.  

This short but simple song has caused me to look at my self and the things that I feel are important and truly see that they are not. That my main focus needs to on the ONE that died on the cross and rose again. Finding that quiet time to spend with him and humbling myself before him in all of his glory and wait for his teaching and worship in as long as I have life on this earth.